Car crashes ding wallets

Accidents on Honolulu roads cost drivers $608 million a year, or about $672 per person

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Honolulu motorists get dinged for about $608 million annually because of traffic accidents, according to a new study that factors in property damage, lost earnings, medical costs, emergency services, legal costs and travel delays.

Traffic crashes in Honolulu cost about $608 million a year, but that is less than most other medium-size cities, according to an American Automobile Association research report.

The nationwide study, released yesterday, found that traffic crashes have a much more damaging impact on society than the bumper-to-bumper congestion that riles commuters in many metropolitan areas.

Maryland-based Cambridge Systematics Inc., which conducted the research for the automobile association, found that crashes cost U.S. motorists $164.2 billion a year, or about $1,051 per person. The study was done over the last year.

In Honolulu the per-capita cost of crashes was estimated at $672, which is the third-lowest estimate out of 74 cities in the research.

However, AAA Hawaii officials were quick to note that the overall $608 million-a-year loss was much higher than the annual cost of traffic congestion in Honolulu, which they estimated at $166 million.

"In theory the ability to get from place to place quickly and safely is of great importance to people in today's busy world," said AAA Hawaii General Manager Richard Velazquez, "but in practice there isn't as much focus as there should be on taking aggressive steps to reduce the number of traffic crashes."

"If there's a loss of life, you've completely lost the wage earner in the household, and not to mention the suffering the family goes through," said Elaine Beno, an AAA spokeswoman based in Costa Mesa, Calif.

The nation's largest cities have billions of dollars in costs each year from accidents. In New York City, crashes cost about $18 billion a year.

Robert Darbelnet, AAA's president and chief executive, said nearly 43,000 people die each year on the nation's roadways but that "the annual tally of motor vehicle-related fatalities barely registers as a blip in most people's minds."

"It's time for motor vehicle crashes to be viewed as the public health threat they are," he said.

To address the high costs, AAA recommended that lawmakers make safety more of a priority in their transportation planning and pursue measures such as stiffer laws on drunken and impaired driving.